Thursday, May 21, 2009

Trapped with chicken pellets as bait, these six pigeons are 1/2 female and 1/2 male of varying ages.

To butcher a pigeon, apply the same skills as if it were a chicken, with the exception that feather removal requires no boiling water.

Pigeon has little to no fat, so a drier meat, therefore, less time to cook. First, marinate in olive oil and numerous herbs, followed by stuffing with what is available seasonally. Apple, fennel, onion and garlic were our choices. Bart with bacon, using dental floss (avoid mint flavored), insuring that the legs and wings are tucked in. Forget the salt, because it will toughen the meat and didn't require any after cooking. Do not overcook these darlings. Fifteen to 20 minutes at the most at 275 and broil afterwards for a minute or two to crispen the bacon.

The legs and wings are stringy but have soup stock potential.

Eatting my first pigeon. The results: breasts are the best; dense in flavor and high in qi.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Today I want to show you some awesome shit!

Hey peps, you know I love shit, dung, turds, frass, biscuttes, poo, crap, caca. You name the shit and it's alright by me. Most recently I scored on some zoo poo, you know the giraffe, rhino, zebra and yes, in my hands in the picture below is my fave - an elephant turd. My tomatoes are loven' it and so are my red-wigglers. The next hot shit on the block is pigeon poo. Donning my respirator on an early Sunday morning to go scrap up from underneath a bridge some pigeon poo makes my weekend. It is better than rabbit and chicken shit for N-P-K

Great for citrus, and all fruit trees. go light on the veggies but not the tomatoes. They eat it up!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Howdy Farmers!

Mr. Redmond is one of Tucson's senior farmers. At 89, he cranks out truck loads of collard greens, English peas and fresh eggs from his 100 plus hens. Kelly, his partner in crime, bakes pies that puts the 'p' in pleasure.

At Pachamama's Garden, there is a mighty fine brew made from worm castings, rain water and molasses. Air is pumped into the brew for several days and a party of numerous species of beneficial soil bacteria arises, making plants drunk with growth. Worm poo rocks!

Arizona is noted for her sunsets and rainbows. At Pachamama's Garden, you can find a rainbow in the nesting box.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

It's citrus season in Tucson and lemons abound. My kitchen is filled with the scent of fresh-squeezed lemons. The juice goes into ice cube trays and once frozen, into freezer baggies. When the temperatures rise above 100 degrees F and the cost of lemons at the store follows suit, I drop a hand full of lemon cubes into a vessel of water and sugar and relish in tasty, local lemonade.

SPONSOR KIM FOX TUCSON’S AMBASSADOR OF LOCAL FOOD AS SHE BIKES ACROSS EUROPE FOR LOCAL AGRICULTURE

WHO is Kim Fox?Kim Fox is Tucson's micro-urban farmer and food activist, dedicated to community education and local food production. As founder of Pachamama's Garden, she designs urban sites for food production and distribution. Her community education programs focus on local food production, soil science, food security and health. In 2009 over 215 students and visitors attended education programs and tours of Pachamama’s Garden. Kim’s urban farm also demonstrates conversion of food waste and manures into living soils via composting and vermiculture systems.Kim is an observer of and participant in local and international foodways. She has traveled to 25 countries, working on small farms and urban gardens, visiting farmers' markets, participating in food culture and customs, and observing local food production and distribution methods.

HOW is Kim Fox an Ambassador of Local Food?Beginning in June 2010, Kim will take a sabbatical from her farming and education work in Tucson to travel by bicycle across Europe from Paris, France, to Vilnius,Lithuania. She will engage with people who manage urban and rural farms, gardens, farmers' markets, food banks, seed banks, and public and private agencies in order to exchange perspectives and information on methods of urban sustainable agriculture production and distribution. She will be exposed to numerous local food prints, the relationships people have culturally and regionally to their food. In particular, Kim will study and report on seed saving, climate change consequences, GMO issues,sustainable farming and urban gardening techniques, plus recipes straight from thekitchen. Her community in Tucson and beyond can learn with her and support her during her trek.You can contact Kim at theoriginalhoe@live.comMy wOrm regards!